The biggest financial advice I have seen is what items that you should never pay for once you start your debt free journey. Maybe I just don't fit in, but I don't see eye to eye on all of the items that are a "waste" of money. I believe that if it brings ease or joy to your life, why eliminate it! Check out my list of 14 things that I waste my money on!

14 Things that Waste Money, but I Refuse to Eliminate from my Budget

Posted by By October 6, 2017Posted inAbout Budgeting, Budgeting Basics, Money Saving Tips5 Comments

The biggest financial advice I have seen is what items that you should never pay for once you start your debt free journey. Maybe I just don't fit in, but I don't see eye to eye on all of the items that are a "waste" of money. I believe that if it brings ease or joy to your life, why eliminate it! Check out my list of 14 things that I waste my money on!Lately, I have seen a ton of articles that focus on things you shouldn’t waste money on in your debt free journey. According to these, you should just go cold turkey on everything that is a “waste” of money. There are a ton of things that could be considered a waste of money to one person, but not another. I am all about ways that I can save money. This month, I am in the middle of my #SavvySagittariusNoSpend Challenge. When I am not spending money on anything, it makes it easier to see what I really do waste money on.

This isn’t how I am doing my debt free journey at all. There are still quite a few things that I purchase that are on most of these lists. I am always looking for ways to save money, but there are a few things that I am just not willing to stop “wasting” money on. Because I won’t give them up, I have found a few ways to save some money on these things.

Your debt free journey doesn’t mean you have to be miserable. Continue to enjoy the life you have, but do so responsibly.

I know October is going to be a great month of paying debts off. This month I will pay off my smallest student loan! Find out how September went!

September’s Debt Free Journey Report

Posted by By October 3, 2017Posted inDebt Free Journey, Debt Free UpdatesNo Comments

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. This is one way that bloggers make money, but it is at absolutely no extra cost to you if you choose to make a purchase based on my suggestions! If you would like to read more about how this works, check out my Disclosure Policy!

I know October is going to be a great month of paying debts off. This month I will pay off my smallest student loan! Find out how September went!

My Story

If you have been following my story at all, you probably know that I tell my story at the beginning of every monthly report for those who just stumbled upon my blog. I gain different followers every month and I don’t want anyone to feel blind as they find my posts! If you have read my story, feel free to skip ahead to my monthly report. I tell this story so I am not just some stranger, but instead someone who just might inspire each and every reader to follow the same journey!

My name is Elyse. I am 22, single with no kids and I am proudly on my way to being completely debt freeeee. I never really thought of myself as someone who was in debt. With no credit cards and no car payment, I was not the average American.  All I had was a few student loans. It wasn’t until a few weeks before my 22nd birthday that I got a loan for a Jeep and my very first credit card. I should say credit card(S). For the month of December, I thought it was so cool that I finally had a credit card. I was excited over it actually. I was learning about all the different rewards I could cash in and it was fantastic.

Towards the end of the month, I was cleaning off a bookshelf, getting ready to move (again), and found The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. This $15 book completely changed my life path at the time. Dave describes being debt free as such a rewarding and achievable thing. In his book, he says it will take work and it will be hard, but it will be worth it. He has been right. There have been days were I have completely questioned my sanity. I sometimes wonder why I don’t just make minimum payments forever like everyone else.

“Sometimes, you have to like like NO ONE else, so someday you can LIVE like no one else.” – Dave Ramsey

Sinking Funds: What are they and why you NEED them RIGHT NOW

Sinking Funds: What are they and why you NEED them RIGHT NOW

Posted by By September 15, 2017Posted inBudget Methods, Budgeting Basics8 Comments

Sinking funds is a term that can be a little confusing. Here is a complete guide to making sure you know what you are doing and help you really get your budget together!Have you ever known that you have a big expense coming up, but decided to figure it out when you get there? Does Christmas “surprise” you ever year, even though it is ALWAYS on December 25th? Do your January credit card bills make you a little bit of a scrooge?

I have been posting on Instagram about my sinking funds lately and a lot of people have questioned what I mean when I use that term. I think the name came from Dave Ramsey, but let’s face it, our grandparents and great grandparents really invented the wheel when it comes to no debt finances. Grandma knew what it meant to save her money for a rainy day.

I started my debt free journey on January 1st, 2017 and I have not had to pull money out of my emergency fund once because I have my sinking funds. They are a little confusing, but hopefully this guide will help you get started.

Here are the most commonly asked questions I get about my sinking funds:

How does it work?

A sinking fund is a type of savings for irregular or yearly expenses. For example, you pay $600 every 6 months for car insurance. Instead of ignoring it and waiting until the time comes up to pay for it, a sinking fund sets aside a portion of the payment every single month. In this case, it would be $100 a month.

It may feel like you are putting away a lot every month, but I promise that it will save you tons in the long run! When you start getting the hang of looking at sinking funds as an expense, it becomes a lot easier to put money away every single month!

August’s Debt Free Journey Report

August’s Debt Free Journey Report

Posted by By September 1, 2017Posted inDebt Free Journey, Debt Free UpdatesNo Comments

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. This is one way that bloggers make money, but it is at absolutely no extra cost to you if you choose to make a purchase based on my suggestions! If you would like to read more about how this works, check out my Disclosure Policy!

I have been working so hard during my debt free journey! I have paid off $8500 in the last 8 months! Here is how I did and what I learned in the month of August

My Story

If you have been following my story at all, you probably know that I tell my story at the beginning of every monthly report for those who just stumbled upon my blog. If you have read my story, feel free to skip ahead to my monthly report. I tell this story so I am not just some stranger, but instead someone who just might inspire each and every reader to follow the same journey!

My name is Elyse. I am 22, single with no kids and I am proudly on my way to being completely debt freeeee. I never really thought of myself as someone who was in debt. With no credit cards and no car payment, I was not the average American.  All I had was a few student loans. It wasn’t until a few weeks before my 22nd birthday that I got a loan for a Jeep and my very first credit card. I should say credit card(S). For the month of December, I thought it was so cool that I finally had a credit card. I was excited over it actually. I was learning about all the different rewards I could cash in and it was fantastic.

Towards the end of the month, I was cleaning off a bookshelf, getting ready to move (again), and found The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. This $15 book completely changed my life path at the time. Dave describes being debt free as such a rewarding and achievable thing. In his book, he says it will take work and it will be hard, but it will be worth it. He has been right. There have been days were I have completely questioned my sanity. I sometimes wonder why I don’t just make minimum payments forever like everyone else.

“Sometimes, you have to like like NO ONE else, so someday you can LIVE like no one else.” – Dave Ramsey

Have you ever set a goal and a few days into working on it, you completely forget about it. Here is my number one way of setting goals and achieving them too!!

How To Set Your Goals And Achieve Them too!

Posted by By August 18, 2017Posted inMillennial Life1 Comment

Have you ever set a goal and a few days into working on it, you completely forget about it. Here is my number one way of setting goals and achieving them too!!

Have you ever tried setting weight loss goals in the middle of September? It is almost impossible to stick to for some reason. All of the holidays are coming up. The great fluffy clothing is lurking around the corner so you don’t have to worry about wearing shorts or a swim suit any time soon. The “I have plenty of time before summer” excuse.

But before you know it, without fail, summer comes and goes again the next year and you are still uncomfortable with your body. Maybe that isn’t you at all, but you can definitely relate that without a real reason why, it is hard to accomplish anything. Without setting yourself up for success, you don’t see a lot of progress on whatever you are working on. 

Setting goals is the number one way to make sure that you are actually making progress in life instead of just floating along.  Maybe it was because you weren’t that committed. Or it could be that you made them and then didn’t look at them again until way after the goal date. Whatever it was, here are a few pointers to making sure you can meet you next set of goals! 

Do you love Instagram, but struggle to get followers, especially ones that actually talk back? Here are a few tips to get the most out of your Insta!

How I Gain Over 1000 Instagram Followers a Month With Little Effort!

Posted by By August 15, 2017Posted inBlogging Tips, Money Making Tips6 Comments

Most bloggers say that most of their traffic comes from Pinterest, but I would say that a majority of my traffic comes from Instagram. I have connected with people who are in the same boat as I am. It is fun to be able to personally follow someone else’s daily journey.

Recently I have gotten a ton of followers that have told me that they absolutely love my Instagram. People have told me that I inspire them with the things that I post.. I have also had a steady gain of followers. My number followers on Instagram is not outrageously high, but I’ve only been active for about 4 months and its almost at 3000 followers! (Update: At one year, I am sitting at over 12,000 followers!)Do you love Instagram, but struggle to get followers, especially ones that actually talk back? Here are a few tips to get the most out of your Insta!

How I gain over 1000 Followers a Month on Instagram

What I’ve Learned From Blogging

What I’ve Learned From Blogging

Posted by By August 3, 2017Posted inBlogging Tips, Money Making TipsNo Comments

Blogging is not always an easy task, but it has definitely been rewarding for me. I am so thankful for all of the things that I have learned along the way. Here's to the people who have stuck along side me through all of my writing and what I have learned from it.

I am coming up on starting this blog just about 8 months ago now for this blog, but it was about a year ago that I started really working on a travel blog! My goal was to build a travel blog and roam the world, but I quickly found out that I am more of a homebody. I love traveling, but I also love my home. There are a ton of travel bloggers out there, but it didn’t work out for me. I even wrote an explanation why it didn’t work for me. My goal is still to do a ton of traveling, but I love having a home. I love this blog because finances are so much more my personality. I have been a budget-er since I started working. My goal is to actually make this blog by business.

I find myself doing at least one or two things for it every single day. In fact, I used to spend the entire day in front of my computer working on getting stuff done. I spent a good part of my vacation getting back into the swing of these after coming back from 2 1/2 weeks of military training. I have not been very consistent, but I am now making a continual effort to do better from here on out!